When a Potter Loves a Malfoy
by MinervaEvenstar
Summary: Each member of the Potter family has a different view of Albus Severus and his relationship with Scorpius Malfoy. Includes amusing moments between the Potter siblings and multiple characters' perspectives. Epilogue Compliant. Cursed Child AU since Harry is the most magical dad! Albus/Scorpius and Harry/Ginny


**Summary:** Each member of the Potter family has a different view of Albus Severus and his relationship with Scorpius Malfoy. Includes amusing moments between the Potter siblings and multiple characters' perspectives. Epilogue Compliant. Cursed Child AU since Harry is the most magical dad! Albus/Scorpius and Harry/Ginny

 **Disclaimer:** The characters were created by J. K. Rowling. I wrote this fic years before _Cursed Child_ was published, thus that text doesn't apply to this piece. No character-bashing is intended, but Ron and Ginny have difficulty accepting Al's relationship with Scorpius Malfoy while Harry has no problem doing so.

 **Genres:** Family, Friendship, Romance, Drama, Comedy, Fluff, Slash, Het

 **Relationships:** Albus Potter/Scorpius Malfoy, Harry Potter/Ginny Weasley-Potter, Teddy Lupin/Victorie Weasley (mentioned once)

 **Rating:** Teen

When a Potter Loves a Malfoy

By MinervaEvenstar

 **Harry's Perspective**

 **When YourYounger Son Loves a Malfoy**

Harry loved all of his children equally, but if he had to choose which one made him proudest, it would definitely have been Albus Severus.

A scene Harry thought depicted all of his children well happened two years after Lily's birth.

 _James was sitting in Time Out for scribbling on Lily's face with a quill._

" _It was to make her look like Teddy when he makes funny faces!" The five year-old tried to explain._

" _Teddy does that on his own because he wants to. Lily didn't want this," Harry spoke over Lily's weeping, and she cried even louder as if to illustrate his point. "Now, sit there quietly for ten minutes and think about why what you did was not okay."_

 _James Sirius Potter pouted, as he was too young to have developed the cynicism of rolling his eyes yet. However, he did as his father bid. He was quiet for nearly an entire minute before he couldn't be silent any longer. "I didn't mean to make her cry, ya know?"_

" _I know." James' tone had been more regretful than defensive, and Harry heard the sincerity in his oldest child's words. "But you still have to sit there for nine more minutes so I'm sure you won't be tempted to do it again."_

 _Three year-old Albus Severus put down the book he'd been reading. He knew his entire alphabet of uppercase and lowercase letters by this point, and could figure out how to read almost any word under six letters. Even Rose Weasley, who was the only other child Harry had met of such precociousness, had difficulty with five-letter words._

" _Need halp, Dad?" Albus Severus offered as he walked over on legs that were still short and unsteady. James had vaunted perfect balance ever since he'd started to walk, and Albus' lack of balance worried Ginny sometimes. Hermione reassured poor balance was common in toddlers, so Albus should grow out of it. Even if he didn't, one coordinated child who loved flying would be enough for Ginny, wouldn't it?_

" _No thanks, Al." Harry finished cleaning Lily up with a flourish that made her laugh, showing all of her baby teeth hadn't grown in yet. "All done."_

" _Kin I show her my nest espary-ment, den?"_

 _Albus was an advanced reader with a good vocabulary, but his pronunciation of words was adorably incorrect, like most children of his age. However, Harry knew his son well enough to determine he'd meant, 'Can I show her my next experiment, then?' If Harry remembered correctly, Al was making a 'volcano' with bubbling baking soda and vinegar._

 _Harry smiled. "Sure, if she wants to see it, but try not to be disappointed if she doesn't understand it."_

" _She kin learn," Al optimistically offered._

" _Lily like to play game!" the tiny redhead declared. She referred to herself in the third person while developing her ability to talk._

" _Mum says kids should play games. Why do you always wanna learn stuff?" James demanded of Al._

" _So I know better den to dwaw on my sista's face." Al's honest response made Harry laugh out loud._

 _Lily, two years old and more unbalanced than Al, put one hand against the nearest piece of furniture for support so she could waddle to where James was forced to sit. She waved one of her fingers, still chubby with baby fat, threateningly. "Jamie not dwaw Lily's face agin or Lily make Jamie sad."_

 _James caught his sister's finger and squeezed it gently. "Never again," he promised. "Probably."_

" _James Sirius," warned Harry._

" _What?" queried James innocently._

 _Al shook his head. "My brudder doesn't know bedder dan to not self-incwiminate," he forlornly announced to no one in particular._

 _Harry wondered if he ought to be concerned that Albus knew his brother was incriminating himself, but settled on being impressed instead._

Unfortunately, not everyone was as proud of Albus Severus as Harry was.

"Is the kid coming over?" Ron asked as he and Harry prepared for a family party a decade or so after the face-coloring incident.

"Yes, Scorpius is probably coming," answered Harry, deliberately using the teen's name to show his disapproval of Ron referring to him as 'the kid.'

"I hate that Malfoy prat."

Harry sighed, as he didn't think 'that Malfoy prat' was any better of a label than 'the kid.' "He's not a bad person. He's actually very mature. And he's Al's best friend. And Rose likes him, too."

"Eugh, don't remind me. You don't suppose she fancies him, do you?"

"Rose fancy Scorpius?"

"Yeah."

Harry hadn't understood teenage girls when he'd gone to Hogwarts with them. He certainly wasn't going to understand them now. "I hope not," he said truthfully. If Harry was right about the feelings of the adolescent boys under discussion, Rose fancying Scorpius would be awkward.

"Me too. A Malfoy in the family would be a disaster."

Harry glared. "Shut up."

"What?"

"Shut up about Scorpius. If you took the time to talk with him, you'd see he's witty, and very considerate too, even though he doesn't seem like it at first."

"Why are you so defensive about him?"

"He's Al's best friend," Harry repeated.

"Well, Al's always been a little weird. Besides, he's a…" Ron trailed off, knowing he was about to go too far.

"A what?" Harry demanded. When Ron remained uncomfortably silent Harry growled, "A _Slytherin_?"

"Well…" Ron still looked awkward, but he stuck out his chin, defiantly stubborn. "Yeah!"

Harry stormed off. Ron had been his best friend since he was eleven, but if he had to choose between his friend or his son, then it would be his son every time.

The reason he was defensive of Scorpius was because Harry was convinced Scorpius was a great deal more than Al's 'best friend.'

James' letters were filled with news of girls, Quidditch, girls, pranks, and girls. Lily's letters pertained to schoolwork, Quidditch, and boys. Harry was grateful boys weren't mentioned as often in his daughter's notes as girls were in James'. Al's messages, on the other hand, only spoke of his experimental research and of Scorpius, and typically more of the latter.

Harry had never been an expert on romance, but he wasn't a fool. He knew what the letters meant. Whether or not Al and Scorpius were actually together yet was something Harry did not know, and he wasn't aware of a good way in which he could ask. If they weren't a couple yet, Harry knew it was only a matter of time.

He wanted to talk about it with Ginny, though her disapproval of Scorpius - which was less vocal than Ron's, but blatant nonetheless - made him reluctant to broach the subject with her.

Hopefully, Albus would soon bring up the subject with Harry himself. Harry hoped Albus knew his father well enough to realize he would love him no matter what.

 **James' Perspective**

 **When Your Little Brother Loves a Malfoy**

If someone asked James to describe his little brother in three words he would say, "A know-it-all-ish, annoying worry-wart." James would actually be thinking, _brilliant, loving, and a bit too insecure_ , but he obviously couldn't say that. He had an image to maintain.

James loved how there was no jealousy between them. Most brothers, especially ones close in both gender and age, tended to compete. James observed this with his cousins and his uncles. It wasn't that way between him and Al. Perhaps this was because their interests were so varied.

James liked Quidditch and parties. Al liked experiments and privacy. James loved meeting new people and – though Al was friendly – strangers tended to make him uncomfortable. Al invented clever potions no one had ever seen before, and James invented suave chat-up lines no one had ever heard.

Though, maybe Al occasionally used chat-up lines on Scorpius. James didn't know _what_ lines since both Al and Scorpius were the sort of people who believed personal matters ought to be kept private. And James was sure they were very –ahem- 'private.' James could tell there was something going on between Al and Scorpius before anyone else in the family could. Well, maybe Rose noticed first, but James was certain no one else had.

He was worried about Al. His little brother was very sensitive. James knew Al wrote home more often than he or Lily did, and the boy needed affection daily. James didn't want Scorpius to break Al's heart. James thought Scorpius was a cool kid after he loosened up and stopped acting haughty, and it was obvious he cared for Al a great deal in _that_ way. The problem was Scorpius was the sole heir to both the Malfoy and Greengrass estates, so the chances he'd risk the wrath of so many powerful relatives by declaring himself in a committed gay relationship were slim to none.

James recalled his pre-Hogwarts years when the Potters went shopping as a family. People always stared, and sometimes approached them to offer free treats. James happily accepted gifts, but Al clung to Harry and whimpered he wanted 'to go home.' Consequently, James told everyone to back off. "Nobody can make Al sad 'cept me!"

Certainly, James teased Al, but he protected him too, and the same was true now. He confronted Scorpius one day and said if Scorpius planned on ending things with Al for the sake of his family duties, he'd better do it sooner rather than later because the longer it went on the more it would hurt Al in the end.

Scorpius hadn't seemed to comprehend what James was getting at, indicating the younger lads hadn't moved beyond the unconvincing 'we're just friend friends' stage of their relationship. It was only a matter of time.

 **Ginny's Perspective**

 **When Your Middle Child Loves a Malfoy**

Ginny's fondest memories of Albus were of him before he went to Hogwarts; before she lost him. Even when he was a toddler, Albus was always the child with whom she had the most trouble bonding. Ginny could relate to James' Quidditch obsession and to Lily's wish to look pretty while not being so girly her older brothers teased her. Not that Albus teased her, but Ginny understood Lily's reservations nonetheless. After all, hadn't Ginny had many elder brothers herself?

Albus, though…Ginny could never relate to his fascination with experiments. He liked work which was scientific and magical, quick and time-consuming, curiosity-induced and goal-motivated. Ginny did not discourage him. She was proud he had such keen intelligence at a young age. It was frustrating, however, when she tried to fake interest in what his games (games he insisted were important works in progress even when they involved Muggle Legos) actually pertained to he could always discern she was pretending. Then, he would go off and talk to his 'Auntie Hermy' about them instead.

Ginny would become upset with herself for being unable to fool Albus even though she knew being named after the best Legilimens and Occlumens in the Wizarding World might have affected his abilities on acting - and perceiving an act - when he encountered one.

Hermione was probably the biggest female influence in Albus' life since - until they left for Hogwarts together - Rose was Albus' chief companion in conducting experiments with him. As Rose's mother, and someone who was genuinely interested, Hermione frequently supervised the games the two children played. Supervised the 'important work,' as the little geniuses called it. Ginny would be lying if she claimed she didn't partially blame Hermione for the loss of her son.

Hermione was so tolerant. Too tolerant. Ginny did not have a problem with homosexuals, but she did have a problem with Malfoys. Vexingly, Hermione did not seem to agree. Some wounds went too deep to heal, and Ginny could not forget more than one Malfoy had tried to give her husband to the Dark Lord. She did not want to risk giving a third Malfoy the opportunity to hurt her son as well.

Unfortunately, Ginny did not have Harry's support in this. Ginny didn't understand how Harry could forgive the terrible things done to him, especially enough to name his child after a man who had made him miserable for years. Ginny and Harry had argued over what to name each of their children. In the end, Harry always won because the names he wanted had sentimental value and Ginny's were merely – in her opinion – the nicer sounding names.

Actually, she didn't have Harry's support on many issues regarding their middle child. She recalled an incident before Al started school.

" _Are we going to Diagon Alley to pick up my supplies?"_

" _Your wand and cauldron? Yes."_

" _But what about my books?"_

" _You can use James'. The required books are still the same. There's no sense in buying new ones when we have perfectly good old ones."_

" _Perfectly good? The bindings are loose, the covers are stained, and the pages are bent!"_

" _My family was raised on hand-me-downs. Just because we've got money doesn't mean I want my family to grow up spoiled."_

" _So I'll never have anything of my own; James will always have owned it first?"_

" _Not if it doesn't work for you. Your father certainly had enough of wearing clothes that were too big for him."_

" _His books don't work for me!"_

" _Albus Severus Potter, don't you take that tone with me! The words in a new text will be the same as a used one."_

" _Used, yes, but not the way James treats them! I love books! Haven't you noticed all the ones Aunt Hermione's given me are still in excellent condition? Why should I have books someone else ruined when I'd keep my own immaculate if I had a new copy? Besides, I want to keep all of my books from all of my years at Hogwarts so I can compare them to new editions when they're published, like Aunt Hermione does!"_

" _You are not Aunt Hermione. You are my son, and you will do as I say."_

" _What if I want to take notes in them? Can't you just save James' books for Lily? It's not like she likes readin-"_

" _Enough. Go to your room."_

 _Albus obeyed. Even though he knew he should be strong, like James, he started to cry._

 _After Harry got home from work he heard what happened from Ginny. "He didn't ask for a solid gold cauldron. He wants legible books."_

 _He went upstairs to find his younger son sleeping on his bed. When Harry touched his cheek, he felt a stickiness which indicated the face had been covered with wet tears recently._

" _Al, it's okay. You can have new books."_

Maybe Harry, like Hermione, deserved slight blame for her poor relationship with Albus as well. Mostly, though, Scorpius was to blame. It was that arrogant, conniving Slytherin's fault!

It certainly wasn't her own.

 **Lily's Perspective**

 **When Your Older Brother Loves a Hot Blond Aristocrat…er, I mean, a Malfoy**

Lily usually called him Al, but once in a while she called him Alby to annoy him just like she referred to James as "Jamie." Teddy already had a cute nickname, and almost nothing irritated him other than people eating his entire stash of chocolate, so there was not much she could do with that.

Teddy, James, and Al were very different big brothers. Teddy was the sweet one who read her bedtime stories, but was too mature for lots of games she wanted to play as a youth. James would go flying with her on practice brooms that only went four feet into the air, which was fun even though he never went easy on her, but he was also the git who put nargles in her bed. Al didn't play pranks on her, but didn't participate in any games either. He was more interested in reading and messing around with his chemistry set than in activities which held enjoyment for normal people. Sometimes, Al and Rose played Muggle Scrabble or Apothecary Master, but those were too boring to be _REAL_ games.

Teddy was much older than Lily, and she didn't see him as much as she had when they were young. He was married to Victoire, and loved to travel, so he tended to be busy nowadays. That was probably a good thing because it was one less brother to be concerned about her romantic escapades.

James was ridiculously overprotective and forbade her from dating anyone. As if she would obey the idiot! On occasion, she blackmailed him into backing off. Threatening to tell James' Quidditch teammates about how he used to follow Teddy around trying to lick him so he could 'catch the cool Blue Hair Disease' usually worked. If he was too concerned about her virtue, though, then nothing she did could get rid of him. It was amusing James actually believed she had any sexual innocence left.

Al didn't harbor any such delusions. Last term he came up to her out of nowhere and said, "If you aren't going to keep your legs closed, at least let me make you an Anti-Pregnancy Amulet." She wasn't surprised he knew; she wasn't secretive about her exploits, and Al had always been uncannily observant. The amulet he'd mentioned was something girls wore as jewelry against their bare skin with a Pregnancy Prevention Potion inside and a Birth Control Charm cast on the outside. Al was a genius, so she knew he'd make it properly, and accepted his offer. A week and a half later he presented her with a necklace, and she had not ever taken it off.

Beyond that incident, Al hadn't shown an interest in her love life _at all._ Even though he didn't say anything, she knew he disapproved of how many blokes she'd shagged. She could tell him she was making up for the fact that he was still a virgin, but he wouldn't be too happy if she did. Al was sensitive about that sort of thing.

Besides, he might not be a virgin anymore. Al and Scorpius Malfoy had fancied one another for ages and they shared a dormitory… If Lily had access to a piece of arse as sexy as that blond, it wouldn't be long before they both lost their clothes.

Lily didn't have enough intimate knowledge of the two to determine if it was funnier (or more accurate) to say Scor scored Al or Al scored Scor. Either way, their relationship needed a fun label! ScorAl was "corals" in pig-Latin, and one of them could be 'hung like a horse,' as the saying went. The thought made her chortle. The most hilarious compilation in Lily's opinion was that the initials of Albus Severus and Scorpius made ASS.

While Lily supported, and slightly envied, Al his gorgeous Slytherin, she was shocked to discover it was not as easy for all members of the family to accept.

"…wish he weren't friends with that boy," Lily heard Ginny's voice as she was walking by her parents' bedroom door one evening. She stopped and put her ear to the door to listen without hesitation.

"They're more than friends, and if they aren't, then Al wants them to be." That was Harry. What were they talking about? Rose might scold Lily for not respecting others' privacy, but Lily had Potter curiosity and Weasley nosiness, thus she continued to eavesdrop.

"What? How do you know?" Ginny queried quickly. "Has he said something to you?"

"Not yet. But he's never had a girlfriend. He's never mentioned girls to me, and when I asked James if Al ever broached the topic with him, James told me he hadn't and…" Harry took a deep breath as if he didn't think his wife was going to like the rest of what he had to say. "James thinks Al is interested in Scorpius, too."

"James and Lily usually talk to me. Why wouldn't James bring this up with me?"

"Because he knows Al wouldn't want him to. The whole family can see you and Al haven't ever been close."

"That's not my fault! He never talks to me."

"Ginny, it's nothing to worry about. I know Lily comes to you with problems more often than she does me. It's natural."

"That's not the same! You know it's not!" Lily did go to her mother for 'girl stuff,' but she didn't deliberately keep her distance from her father, like Al did from Ginny. Lily knew Ginny's protest was valid, and - judging by Harry's sigh – Harry knew it, too. Ginny continued, "You and Lily have secret jokes and she still calls you 'Daddy.'"

 _Only when I want something,_ Lily thought with amusement.

"But Al never says anything to me. Sure, he's cordial and doesn't ignore me, but he doesn't _really_ talk to me," Ginny finished, sounding upset. Lily wondered if other parents ever felt this way. In case they did, she vowed to tell her cousins to give their parents extra hugs before going to bed.

" _You_ never talk to _him_." Anticipating she would disagree, Harry added, "At least not about things he wants to discuss. You want to talk him about what _you_ want to know; not what he wants to share." Ginny didn't deny it and Harry continued, "You've always been that way with him. Even before any of them started Hogwarts, you never wanted to hear about Al's experiments. I didn't understand them either, but I understood they were important to him, so I encouraged him. I was, and still am, proud of his initiative even though it's with something I can't relate to. You didn't ever encourage him. More than once, I remember you saying, 'Why won't you go outside and fly with your brother and sister instead?' You didn't accept him as he was, and you pushed him away."

It was quiet for a moment until Ginny murmured, "Is there a way to get him back?"

"Accept Scorpius."

"I-I can't!" Ginny sounded truly distressed. "I want to, but I just can't. His father and his grandfather tried to _kill you_ , Harry. They tried to turn you over to You-Know-Who!" Even after all of these years had passed since the Dark Lord's reign, Lily only ever heard her father, Aunt Hermione, and Aunt Luna speak Voldemort's name.

Well, she and all three of her brothers said it because Harry encouraged them to (though they usually refrained from doing it around Uncle Ron because he would go white with fear), but out of the people who had actually fought in the war, only the three of them ever said it.

"Yes, they did, but I've gotten over that. I understand they were only trying to protect their family. Even if you – like Ron - can't forgive them, there's no reason to dislike Scorpius for it. He wasn't born at the time, and since he has been born he's never harmed anyone in our family."

"He was still raised by the same people who tried to kill you. They've instilled their values in him. Just because he hasn't done anything yet doesn't mean he won't."

"So, people always turn out to be exactly like the people who raise them." Harry was angry now. "Sirius was exactly like his parents, I'm exactly like the Dursleys, and Al is exactly like us?"

"For Merlin's sake, you know what I mean."

"No, I don't." Uh-oh, Harry still had his angry voice, though he wasn't shouting. "If you actually took the time to get to know Scorpius, you'd see he isn't much like his family, at least not the way we knew them. He's respectful, witty, and a genuinely caring person, especially as far as Al is concerned. He's a bit haughty, yes, but…" Lily could hear a smile in his voice now. That was good. "So was Sirius at that age. We're all idiots at fifteen. He'll grow out of it."

"Even if you're right about Scorpius being a good person, which I'm not convinced he is, he'd never be with Al…like that. Al will only get his heart broken."

"I worried about that too, so I asked James to find out how often Scorpius dated. James acted like it was a pain for him to do, but it was obvious he wanted to help look out for Al. Anyway, you know how popular James is, so when he wants to know something everyone is dying to be the one to give him the gossip. It turns out Scorpius never flirts, and he's only dated one girl and it wasn't for very long. In fact, some students are starting to get suspicious about both Scorpius and Al because whenever a girl hits on either of them, they never do it back. I'm guessing Al is rather like me and too oblivious to notice when someone is trying to chat him up-" At that, Ginny laughed too. "-but Scorpius is blatantly uninterested."

"Even if Scorpius does feel the same way, he'd never do anything about it. Well, maybe he would; being a hormonal teenaged boy and all. It wouldn't be permanent, though, and that would only hurt Al more in the end."

"Why wouldn't it be permanent?"

" _Because,_ Harry!" Ginny sounded exasperated the way Rose's mother often did when she spoke to Dad and deemed him dense. "Scorpius is the sole heir of Malfoy Manor and the Greengrass' properties. Do you honestly think his family will let him be with someone who can't give him an heir?"

"They won't have a choice. Scorpius' family won't be able to stop them if it's what they both want, and _you_ can't stop them either. Al chose his research over a close relationship with you long ago. He'll choose Scorpius over you, too. If you don't accept Scorpius, you'll lose Al completely."

There was an awkward silence and a light lip-smacking sound implying one had just kissed the other on the cheek. "I love you." It was Harry's voice, so it was probably him who had done the kissing. "I know you'll do the right thing." When the next sound Lily heard was a small feminine sob, she decided to give her parents privacy.

Lily knew Al avoided their mother because it hurt and angered him that Ginny judged him, and she didn't blame Al for it. However, Ginny was obviously in pain too. If Ginny wanted to make amends, shouldn't Al give her the opportunity to do so because success would make them both happier? In the end, it needed to be Al's decision, though Lily elected to inform Al about what she had overheard so he would have all of the information ere choosing.

 **Endnote:** I leave the ending open to your interpretation, beloved readers, because I – as a pathetically romantic optimist – want to imagine happiness all around with Ginny and Al mending the rift between them, but I am not convinced I can realistically write that. I hope you enjoyed this exploration into a possible version of the Potter family you prefer sticking toCursed Child compliant AS/S fics, I have written some of those too. Thanks for taking the time to read!


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